down the drain Definition

drain
verb drained, draining

1. To empty (a container) by causing or allowing liquid to escape.
2. To remove liquid from it.

Form: drain something of liquid
3. To drink the total contents of (a glass, etc).
4. To use up the strength, emotion or resources of (someone).

Thesaurus: deplete, consume, exhaust, weary, bleed, dry, finish, swallow, sap; Antonym: fill.
5. Said of a river: to carry away surface water from (land).

noun

1. A device, especially a pipe, for carrying away liquid.

Thesaurus: duct, culvert, sewer, drainpipe, sink, ditch, pipe, outlet, trench, conduit, channel.

Derivative: drainer
noun

A device on which articles can be left to drain, or a draining board.

Idiom: a drain on something

Anything that exhausts or seriously depletes a supply.

Idiom: down the drain

colloq
Wasted; lost.
Thesaurus: gone, lost, ruined, wasted.

Etymology: Anglo-Saxon dreahnian.

Phrasal Verb: drain away or drain something away

To disappear or make it disappear.
Example: Our support drained away after relegation

Phrasal Verb: drain from or off

Said of liquid, etc: to escape; to flow away.

Phrasal Verb: drain off or away

To cause or allow (a liquid) to escape.